Matheson said her own record-keeping would attribute less than $500 of the bookstore's revenue to cruise ships this past season.

She said the shop would usually welcome one party out of every two or three calls by the ships.

"It was really dismal," she said. "And the other thing that happens is when the cruise ships are in town, no one local comes because it's too crazy to get around.

"So I get the double whammy of — not only do I not get any of the cruise ship people, none of my locals come in either. So cruise ship days for me are not fun days."

Uptown Saint John installed two pedestrian counters on Friday ahead of its Uptown Sparkles holiday event, to better gauge how people are moving throughout the city core. (Submitted by Holly McKay)

It's a sharp juxtaposition Uptown Saint John is interested in learning more about.

The group recently acquired six infrared pedestrian counters to get a better sense of how people are moving about the uptown.

Two of the counters on King Street went live on Friday ahead of the popular Uptown Sparkles holiday event.

"Anecdotally, we see what streets are busy, but people wanting to start businesses here are not sure where to set up," said Nancy Tissington, executive director of Uptown Saint John. "So we wanted to provide some data to actually say, 'I think I like this street because it has the most potential.'"

Better signs in the works

Tissington said once Uptown Saint John gets a better sense of how people are moving through the core, it can start to brainstorm ways to guide them further into the interior streets.

"We're trying to get a pattern of where people are, because we're looking at putting some signs in the spring," she said. "So where should we put that signage that best collects the most people.

"It's not about changing their patterns, but learning where their patterns are, and adjusting ourselves … letting people know we have a good portion of galleries here. There are those travelling who love to look at libraries and museums.

"So [through] wayfinding and signage, that'll be very helpful in letting people know where our great assets are."

Can only do so much

Tissington said barring that, there isn't a lot the association can do to change the way people move about the city.

"I think these folks are focused," she said. "When they come in, they generally have six hours and they're preplanned, they're going to see some of the assets in our town, and they may not be shopping as much.

"It does create a nice energy for us … but I heard anecdotally that small businesses, sometimes they say it's the gravy on top, but they don't see a huge hit to their sales."